Shropshire Newsletter Autumn 2013

2013·1.9 MB·English

by  Shropshire Botanical Society

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Orobanche minor Common Broomrape on shrubby Senecio (Brachyglottis greyi) Ruth Dawes,
2013.
Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletter No.27

Contents Page

Society Matters 3
Recorder’s Report 4
Summary of Field Visits 2013 6
The Grasses Part 3 – Spike-like Panicles 8
Understanding Prees Heath Part 2 13
Crose Mere – water quality and aquatic macrophytes 23
Yellow Bartsia at Wood Lane, Ellesmere 28
Obituary of Elizabeth Roberts 29
Further Ramblings of a Shropshire Naturalist EA Wilson 30
List of Members (with renewal dates) 31

Contacts

Newsletter Editor:
Mags Cousins, Bagbatch, Inwood, Church Stretton, SY6 6LA.
Tel. [phone], email: [email protected]

Secretary:
Penny Wysome, 2 Christine Ave, Wellington, Telford, TF1 2DX.
Tel. [phone], email: [email protected]

Membership Secretary:
Mark Duffell, 19 Compton Mews, Ford, Shrewsbury, SY5 9NX.
Tel. [phone], email: [email protected]

Field Meetings Co-ordinator:
Dan Wrench, 7 Links Rd, Belle Vue, Shrewsbury, SY3 7QP.
Tel. [phone], email: [email protected]

Vice County Recorder:
Sarah Whild, 9 Albert Street, Shrewsbury, SY1 2HT.
Email: [email protected]

Past copies of the newsletter are available as pdfs from the Shropshire Botanical Society website:
http://www.bsbi.org.uk/shropshire.html

Any opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the various authors, and are not
necessarily those of the Society. Ordnance Survey maps reproduced under licence No.
100040428.
2
Society Matters
Mags Cousins

At last we can say what a lovely summer for recording, I hope you all managed to see some good
plants.

First the committee news, at the Society AGM in April we agreed a simplification on the
constitution so that the chair and elected committee members would all serve for three years and
then stand for re-election. We duly elected/re-elected the following: Penny Wysome (as
Secretary), Hilary Wallace (special welcome as a new committee member), Sue Townsend (to
continue as our able Treasurer) and Dan Wrench who will be coordinating field meetings having
taken over from Fiona Gomershall who has other commitments. Many thanks to Fiona for the
last 7 years for her enthusiasm and many interesting outings.

Also currently on the committee are John Handley (committee member), Ian Trueman (Chair),
Sarah Whild (Vice county Recorder for Vascular Plants), Mags Cousins (Newsletter Editor) and
Mark Duffell (Membership Secretary). Huge thanks to all the committee members past and
present for all their contributions. It is only with their help that our Society can exist as it is. If
anyone would like to get involved, please do not hesitate to contact one of us. Meetings are
infrequent, usually only 3 per year and are very informal.

On the financial side a very big thank you to Shropshire Wildlife Trust for £750 in grant money
to help to the Society cover essential costs and in the production of the newsletter.

The eagerly awaited all new updated Flora of Shropshire will be available by Christmas so
please contact Sue ([email protected]) to place your pre-publication offer: £25 to
members or a special offer of £30 to include Rare Plants of Shropshire and The Ecological Flora
of Shropshire (not including postage!).

In this edition of the newsletter we continue the series on grasses, learn more about management
on Prees Heath Butterfly Conservation Reserve, dive into the water quality and aquatic plants of
Crose Mere SSSI and take a look at the lovely Yellow Bartsia (see back cover).

Winter Meeting Saturday 14th December 2013, 2-4 pm

As usual we will be meeting for a festive social, fundraising book sale (bring your ‘preloved’
natural history books) and talk at Preston Montford Field Studies Centre, Montford Bridge,
Shrewsbury, SY4 1DX. This year Dr Tim Rich will be giving a talk on the identification of
critical species:

"I don't want to be critical, but..."

Tim is Head of Vascular Plants at the Welsh National Herbarium, National Museum of Wales,
Cardiff.

3
Recorder’s Report
Alex Lockton & Sarah Whild
Significant records
A solitary Pyrus salicifolia Pallas, Willow-leaved Pear, by the A442 at Peplow (SJ633228) has intrigued
various recorders, who have wondered if it was possibly self-sown. This question appears to have been
answered by Philip Ingram, who noticed that leaves on shoots near the trunk are ordinary pear leaves,
which suggests that it has been grafted and therefore planted.

At Badger Dingle (SO765992) on 15th June, Mags Cousins spotted a single plant of Cardamine impatiens
L., Narrow-leaved Bitter-cress, which brings the number of recent
sites for this species to six.
Steve O’Donnell noticed a patch of Lepidium latifolium L.,
Dittander, on a road side at Sandford (SJ584340, 29th July). This is
a nationally scarce coastal plant which seems to be increasing on
waste ground inland.
Seven years ago, Dan Wrench took a photograph of a mysterious
plant at Treflach Quarry (SJ259258, 30/4/2006) which he looked at
again recently and realised it was the rare Wall Whitlowgrass,
Draba muralis L., making a second site for it in the county. This is
almost a splendid example of record-keeping, although Dan admits
that there is a narrow chance that the site could in fact have been
Dolgoch Quarry. Better look out for it again in both sites next year!
During the BSBI Recorders’ Conference (8th September), Quentin
Groom noticed an unusual-looking dock by the Severn in the
Draba muralis at Treflach Quarry (D.H.
Quarry, Shrewsbury (SJ485126). Martyn Stead named it as Rumex
Wrench)
×dufftii (obtusifolius × sanguineus), which was subsequently
confirmed by Geoffrey Kitchener. This is the first confirmed record 4
of what is probably a fairly common hybrid.
3
Keith Bell spotted a plant of Verbascum blattaria L., Moth
2
Mullein, on a roadside at Lyth Hill in August 2013. This plant has
not been recorded in the county since 1979. 1
0
Quentin Groom also noticed a few dead spikes of a broomrape
which experts agreed was Orobanche hederae Duby, Ivy
9
Broomrape, in a shrubbery by a new housing development at
Benbow Quay (SJ49301325, 7th September). This is a first county 8
record of a native plant that is normally found in coastal areas.
7
2 Oro3banch4e min5or in S6hrops7hire 8
4
Meanwhile Orobanche minor Sm., Common Broomrape, turned up in some abundance in shrubberies at
a supermarket in Oswestry (SJ292295 & SJ293295, Dan Knight, 6th July), where it has evidently been
present for several years. It was identified by F.J. Rumsey from photographs forwarded by Ruth Dawes
(see front cover). This is the fifth site for it since
Sinker’s Flora.
Another find by Keith Bell was the first record of
Echinops bannaticus Rochel ex Schrad., Blue
Globe-thistle, on a roadside verge at Lyth Hill
(SJ472068, 18th August), the common globe-thistle
usually found in gardens.
Bath Asparagus, Ornithogalum pyrenaicum L., is
sometimes considered to be native in Somerset and
Wiltshire, where it occurs on the verges of green
lanes. It is also sometimes grown in gardens. It
was recorded in a wood at Apley in about 1800 by
Edward Williams but not again until 2011, when it
was spotted by Nick Robinson, a National Trust
ranger, by the Jack Mytton Way at Rushbury
(SO516917). The habitat is the same at that in its
supposedly native range further south, so it could
be considered native here, too.
Carex ×boenninghausiana Weihe (paniculata ×
remota) turned up at Crose Mere (SJ426306,
Lockton, 22nd June), where it occurs in W5 Alnus
glutinosa woodland with both parents. This is only Ornithogalum pyrenaicum at Rushbury (N. Robinson)
the third recent site for it in the county.
Dan Wrench found a couple of clumps of Poa chaixii Vill., Broad-leaved Meadow-grass, in amenity
woodland at the north end of the Mere, Ellesmere (SJ405354, 2nd August). The only other site for it in the
county is at Pontesford Hill, where it was first recorded by Sinker in 1962.
The following have sent in records so far this year, but there are undoubtedly many still to come.
Bell, Mr K.K. 20 Ingram, Mr P. 1 Rich, Dr T.C.G. 1
Brooks, Ms V. 227 Kay, Mr G.M. 2 Robinson, Mr N. 1
Clayfield, Mr J. 251 Kitchener, Mr G.D. 1 Rumsey, Dr F.J. 3
Cousins, Mrs M. 3 Knight, Mr D. 2 Sanders, Mr A. 21
Dawes, Mr A.P. 13 Langdon, Miss C. 69 Stead, Mr M.O. 1
Dawes, Mrs R.A. 23 Lee, Ms P. 38 Stephens, Ms A. 2
Duffell, Mr M.S. 3 Liffen, Mr C. 1 Swindells, Mrs S. 11
Duffell, Mrs J. 1 Little, Ms C. 1 Townsend, Ms S. 83
Evans, Mr D.J. 1 Lockton, Mr A.J. 291 Whild, Dr S.J. 4
Groom, Dr Q.J. 21 Mobarak, Miss J. 1 Winder, Mr J. 12
Handley, Mr J. 1575 Morris, Dr J. 1 Worrell, Dr J. 1
Holland, Mr T. 15 O'Donnell, Dr S. 2 Wrench, Mr D.H. 84
Holmes, Mr N.T.H. 3 Parry, Dr G. 1
5
Summary of Field Visits 2013
Penny Wysome
We offered 7 visits this year to a lovely variety of sites and those attending
experienced some excellent habitats and saw interesting and unusual plants. Everyone
is welcome – no specialist knowledge is required as there are always plenty of
botanists to help out those of us with developing id skills.
The season started at Caynham Camp Ploughnhill Farm where Fiona Gomersall
lead the exploration of a new wildlife site which had not previously been surveyed.
Fuelled by Battenberg cake supplied by the owners, we enjoyed finding two areas of
woodland with rich ground floras which are now prospective wildlife sites. Besides
the Paris quadrifolia Herb Paris which was one of the targets for the day, there was
also Stachys officinalis Betony, Euonymus europaeus Spindle, Melica uniflora
Wood Melick, Milium effusum Wood Millet, both Polystichum aculeatum and
Polystichum setiferum, Hard and Soft Shield Ferns, Viola reichenbachiana Early Dog
Violet and Euphorbia amygdaloides Wood Spurge. The grassland yielded a mixture
of mesotrophic grassland species Carex caryophyllea Spring Sedge, Carex panicea
Carnation Sedge, Centaurea nigra Common Knapweed, Lathyrus pratensis Meadow
Vetchling, Scorzonera hispidus Rough Hawkbit, Linum cathartiuma Fairy Flax,
Leucanthmum vulgaris Ox-eye Daisy, Pimpinella saxifraga Burnet Saxifrage,
Potentilla repens Tormentil, Rhinanthus minor Yellow rattle and Lotus corniculatus
Common Birds-foot-trefoil. The highlight was finding Potentilla argentea Hoary
Cinquefoil.
Onslow Park was visited in June to search the grasslands, woodland, and water
bodies of this under-recorded area. The lakes and pools offered the most interesting
finds with the larger pool having several macrophytes as well as Swan and Pea
Mussels. A stand of Japanese Knotweed Fallopia japonica near the boat house
sheltered a large colony of Winter Aconite Eranthis hyemale, with nearby a menacing
patch of Brazilian Rhubarb Gunnera manicata restrained behind a fenced off area.

A range of ornamental trees were scattered around the estate including an odd tree
near the main house seen at the end of the outing which stumped us in the field but
turned out to be Celtis occidentalis.
On a rather damper day in mid-June John Handley led an expedition of seven intrepid
botanists into the deepest recesses of Badger Dingle. The weather improved and we
were able to negotiate the muddy paths safely. The Dingle has an exotic mixture of
plants, some the legacy of imaginative historical planting, but others with a solid
indigenous pedigree. The quest for Osmunda regalis Royal Fern and Serratula
tinctoria Saw-wort was successful, but Cystopteris fragilis Brittle Bladder fern and
Vicia sylvatica Wood Vetch remained elusive. An unexpected discovery by Mags
Cousins of Cardamine impatiens Narrow-leaved Bitter-cress was some consolation
for this. This was a fascinating day in an unusual site which allowed for some gorge
walking activity by courageous plant hunters.
6
The weekend of July 13th/14th offered BotSoc members two visits, one to the Wyre
Forest, and the other to Sweat Mere and Crose Mere. John and Denise Bingham
led the walk into the shady woodland on a brilliantly sunny day, accompanied by
three other BotSoc members. John’s intimate knowledge of the Wyre Forest provided
a wonderful insight into the plant communities, with geological and historical context
adding to the understanding. The autumn newsletter 2012 contained more
information on this area. The significant finds were: Hypericum androsaemum
Tutsan, Melica nutans Mountain Melick, Saw-wort and Carex Montana Soft-leaved
Sedge. An additional treat was to see Silver-washed Fritillaries Argynnis paphia.
Four members joined Chris Walker for his look at wetland habitats on Sweat Mere
and Crose Mere SSSI. Scutulleria galericulata Skullcap, Hydrocotyle vulgaris
Marsh Pennywort and Caltha palustris Marsh Marigold were all in the tall herb fen
adjacent to the mere. The edge of the lake gave us Cladium mariscus Great Fen
sedge, as well as nine Carex species. Unfortunately we did not find Sagina nodosa
Knotted Pearlwort. Some convenient Alder stumps gave us a dry dung free lunch site
after which a foray into Sweat Mere was attempted. Here we were in danger of
having to claim on our insurance for loss by immersion of BotSoc members so we
retreated without finding Thelypteris palustris the Marsh Fern which was our
objective. Chris was an illuminating leader with a huge knowledge of the area which
he generously shared. John Clayfield should receive a long service award for his
attendance at both weekend fixtures.
Sarah Whild’s hunt for rare aquatic plants at Brown Moss SSSI was also thwarted by
water! 10 members set out on a sunny day – but the water table was so high that the
shore edge was still immersed making recording of the rare aquatic plants found in the
drawdown zone and shallow water, on a 10m grid impossible. The liverwort
Ricciocarpus natans Purple-fringed Riccia made an appearance in a pool and
spectacular display of Potentilla palustris Marsh Cinquefoil enlivened the visit. A
grass snake seen in Pool 5 turned the party to matters zoological rather than botanical
and the whole group went to look at butterflies at Prees Heath.
Morton Pool and Pastures SSSI and Croft Mill Pastures Two sites in one day, the
highlight of Morton Pool had to be the blanket of Marsh Fern with a large clump of
Royal Fern Osmunda regalis to the west of the pool. The pastures also yielded several
sedges and Rushes alongside Bristle Club-rush Isolepis setacea and Bog
Pimpernel Angallis tenella. Sadly the ditches had been cleared recently damaging lots
of the associated trees including Alder Buckthorn Frangula alnus and scooping out
large plants of Tufted Sedge Carex elata.

Croft Mill Pastures was new to many of us, with its damp marshy fen vegetation with
dominant Lesser Pond-sedge Carex acutiformis and in one area Wood Club-
rush Scirpus sylvaticus. A particularly rich area had Water Avens Geum rivale, Marsh
Hawk's-beard Crepis paludosa, Sneezewort Achillea ptarmica, Caltha
palustris, Brown Sedge Carex disticha and Galium uliginosum Fen Bedstraw. Despite
a search no signs of Globe-flower Trollius europaeus could be located.
7
The Grasses Part 3 – Spike-like Panicles
Ian Trueman

Except for the spike inflorescences discussed last time (Autumn 2012 Newsletter),
grass inflorescences are almost all panicles: branched, with spikelets1 on the end of
the branches. However, in a few grasses, the branches are so short that the
inflorescence axis appears unbranched. These are the spike-like panicles. The
spikelets are never in the mandatory one or two rows either side of the axis found in
the spikes and are usually arranged all around the axis to form a dense cylinder of
spikelets (see Figs 5 & 6). You can usually detect the very short stalks to the spikelets
with a bit of brutal dissection. If, however, bending an apparently unbranched
inflorescence reveals some branches considerably longer than the spikelets, it should
be sought amongst the grasses with panicles rather than those with spike-like panicles.

The most marginal species in this context is Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet Vernal-
grass (Fig 1.): Stace calls it a contracted panicle, both Hubbard and Cope & Gray a
spike-like panicle. The inflorescence is often somewhat loose or even lobed in outline
and occasionally the odd fairly lengthy branch may be found. It is however a very
distinctive plant, a medium-sized, broad-leaved grass with a tuft of hairs (but also a
marked membranous ligule) where the leaf sheath meets the leaf blade and of course
with the wonderful scent of new-mown hay (the chemical; coumarin) when the shoot
is crushed. The yellow-green inflorescences appear earlier than those of most grasses
and herald the start of the hay fever season. The spikelets are very large: three florets
are contained between the two glumes and the longer glume is almost a centimetre
long. Particularly late in flowering you may be able to find quite prominent awns,
attached at the base of the florets and bent in the middle (kneed or geniculate). It
tolerates and is often abundant in a wide range of grassland and heathland habitats,
from wet to fairly dry, from acid to fairly base-rich, and even shady or lead and zinc
contaminated sites. It is however much less common in typical amenity grassland and
in residential areas generally, although it is easily introduced in seed mixtures and
lawns made with turf. A perennial, there is a very similar rare and decreasing annual
neophyte, Anthoxanthum aristatum, of arable and sandy places, not I think ever
recorded in Shropshire.

Cynosurus cristatus Crested Dog’s-tail (Figs 2-4.) is also a bit unusual in this group.
The inflorescence is a tight, cylindrical spike-like panicle but the spikelets are all
thrown to one side with the main axis of the panicle clearly visible up one side of the
cylinder. Among the clusters of spikelets, completely sterile many-flowered spikelets
resembling little feathers cover much chunkier fertile several-flowered spikelets.
Florets have short awns on the ends of the lemmas. A small to medium–sized grass
found throughout Shropshire, Cynosurus cristatus is a constant species in old
meadows and pastures and also in semi-improved grassland, on a wide range of soil
types. Sometimes, however, you can search a monad all day and only see its

1 The spikelet is the characteristic cluster of one or more florets, subtended by two sterile chaffy bracts
known as glumes, found in grasses. Each floret consists of ovary and three stamens enclosed between
two more chaffy bracts known as the lemma and the (usually smaller) palea. Lemmas, and less often
glumes and paleas, may bear whisker-like bristles known as awns.
8
distinctive inflorescence once or twice, sometimes in clearly secondary habitats.
There is a longer-awned annual neophyte relative, Cynosurus echinatus Rough Dog’s-
tail, with more ovoid inflorescences, a casual of bare places, once recorded in
Shropshire.

Fig. 1 Anthoxanthum Fig. 2 Cynosurus Fig. 3 & 4 Cynosurus
odoratum x2 cristatus x1/2 cristatus: two kinds of
spikelets x 10
Two main genera of grasses have dense, cylindrical spike-like panicles in which the
spikelet consists of a single floret concealed between the two glumes. They are
Alopecurus the Foxtails and Pheum the Cat’s-tails or Timothys. In Figs 5 & 6, the
spike-like panicles and the spikelets of the two commonest species, Phleum pratense
Timothy and Alopecurus pratensis Meadow Foxtail are illustrated. These are both
modestly tall grasses, around 1 metre in flower, with the inflorescences around 75
mm. long and 7.5 mm wide. The essential differences are in the spikelet structure and
such inflorescences should always be examined carefully since they are often
superficially very similar, especially when covered in stamens. However Meadow
Foxtail flowers from May and Timothy mainly from July.

Fig. 5 Phleum pratense x1/2

9
Fig. 6 Alopecurus pratensis x 1/2

In genus Phleum the two equal glumes have stiff hairs along the keel like a comb and
are abruptly drawn out into short, stiff, tapering awns, giving the flattened spikelet the
look of one end of a Mermaids’s Purse. The floret within is completely hidden. In
genus Alopecurus the glumes are also keeled, but are uniformly hairy and taper
conventionally to a point. The single floret within has a fine awn which in most
species protrudes clearly from between the two glumes (Fig. 7).

In Shropshire Phleum is represented
by two closely-related native species.
The larger is Phleum pratense
Timothy and the smaller Phleum
bertonolii Smaller Cat’s-tail. Both
are typically components of neutral
grasslands but Timothy consists
mainly of many cultivars and often
indicates past re-seeding. It is named
for Timothy Hansen, who cultivated it
Fig. 7 Spikelets of Alopecurus widely in America and re-introduced it
pratensis (left) and Phleum pratense to UK in the 18th century.
(right) x10
Smaller Cat’s-tail grows mainly in old grassland on less fertile sites although it does
include cultivars. No single character separates the two (except chromosome number)
but they are separable by the combination of features in Table 1.

Table 1 Distinguishing Phleum pratense from P. bertolonii (from Cope & Gray)
Character Phleum pratense Phleum bertolonii
Plant height Mostly >70 cm Mostly <70 cm
Leaf breadth Mostly >4 mm Mostly < 5 mm
Anther length Mostly >1.7 mm Mostly <1.7 mm
Panicle breadth Mostly >7 mm Mostly <7 mm
10